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Post by THE_SUPERWEIRDO on Nov 11, 2013 19:07:41 GMT
I finally came to and bought a Man Kung crossbow. I just want to give out a quick-ish review on it, sharing that this crossbow, despite the price, is a nice one to have for a starter crossbow. I actually received this crossbow on Thursday, Nov. 7, but I have been playing around with it and seeing if it is an actual value for it's cost. The package I bought came with 6 16" bolts, a 4X20 scope, a laser sight, 6 cheap broad heads, and of course, the crossbow. I also bought a quiver, rail lube, and a rope cocker for it. All this cost me $143.61, used the 10%-15% off coupons that they give out for practically any holiday Here's some pics on the parts of the crossbow The construction of the body of the crossbow is unexpectedly very solid. No rattles and any loose screws. The stock also doesn't feel like it's from a toy gun, it feels really sturdy and well built for a budget crossbow. The installation of the string is a pain; I should've bought a stringer for it. :lol: After getting it installed, cocking the crossbow without the rope aid takes a lot of energy out of me. (I'm not exactly a very muscly guy...) Basically, this is a good, reliable crossbow with bad bolts. :mrgreen: Planning on replacing those awful "aluminum" arrows for something durable. The groupings the crossbow made are pretty precise, maybe a 1.5"-2" groupings at 10 yards. Accuracy is my own fault, the sights on the crossbow aren't sighted in. Overall the crossbow is a great budget crossbow. This crossbow is also a great project crossbow, I can see a lot of potential for modifications. (I'm already planning on adding a sling and other attachments to it) I also found out that replacement parts for Man Kung crossbows are fairly cheap and easy to acquire from some stores. In conclusion, I would recommend this to anyone on a tight budget. Let me know if you guys have any questions with this crossbow.
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Post by William Swiger on Nov 11, 2013 20:26:09 GMT
Cool - thanks for posting.
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Post by THE_SUPERWEIRDO on Nov 11, 2013 21:04:06 GMT
No problem. I like reviewing stuff, it somewhat helps me understand my stuff a little better. I also forgot to mention some of the things I got from the purchase. Like the scope, which I thought was was better than the plain iron sights the crossbow came with, but not necessarily that great. The scope's windage and elevation adjustments are hard to do, even with the vague instructions it came with it. The laser on the crossbow is nice, it has a nice bright red dot. and just cool to have on my crossbow. After just finding out I can adjust the position of the dot with a tiny allen wrench, it can help me with zeroing in my scope. The quiver I bought for it is decent, came from the same company of Man Kung. The rubber that held the arrows in place were a bit smaller in diameter to the actual arrows, so I just took a knife and cut away bits of rubber away until all 6 slots of my quiver can securely hold an arrow.
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Post by bigpete on Nov 11, 2013 21:39:32 GMT
You probably shouldn't have cut away the rubber from the quiver especially if your going to smaller diameter carbon shafts, now there is going to be a fairly large chance that the gripper won't hold the bolts tightly enough. Its always better to have them too tight than not tight enough
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 11, 2013 21:41:01 GMT
Nice review!! I started out with a crossbow quite similar to that one. They are surprisingly accurate indeed. You really should get yourself a rope cocker though. Much easier on your back and it makes sure the string is cocked exactly the same every time, improving accuracy.
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Post by bigpete on Nov 11, 2013 22:08:24 GMT
That's a good tip about the rope cocker,it makes the job 50% easier, but I personally find them awkward and slow. I used to just mark the string either side of the rail to make sure I cocked the bow evenly, worked fine. If your after extreme durability, try "footing" your carbon arrows with a small length of aluminium arrow, it is surprising how much stronger that will make them. Also, if you plan on using the broadheads, perhaps try feather fletching. Seemed to work better for me at least.
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Post by THE_SUPERWEIRDO on Nov 12, 2013 3:17:00 GMT
I did get a rope cocker for this crossbow. It was too short, so I went and bought 550 paracord and replaced the rope. Yes, it is slow, but it did definitely made the cocking job way easier. And I can always train to coordinate myself to use it faster. For the quiver, I cut out rubber to fit 2219 arrows, at least I think there "2219" (I'm fairly new to the arrow diameter thing). When I got it, it was a very small diameter where the bolts that came with my crossbow can't even fit, so I had to cut away rubber, little by little, until my arrows were secure enough where I can take them on and off with ease but not have them fall off the quiver randomly. Anyway, the quiver was $15, so I wasn't planning on seeing it survive years I am planning in the future to buy a similar quiver that I see on the Excaliburs, the side quivers, so I can have that annoying swivel stirrup out of the way. :mrgreen: And thanks for the tip on the arrow length. From what I understand, I should make carbon arrows short so they can be durable, no?
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Post by bigpete on Nov 12, 2013 8:49:24 GMT
carbon arrows are really strong across the length of the arrow doesn't really matter how long or short they are,but they do tend to split at the tip end if they hit something hard. the bit of aluminium shaft over the tip will help prevent that. you already have 2219 shafts so they will fit sweet over standard GT 7595 or coated GT 5575 shafts
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Post by THE_SUPERWEIRDO on Nov 16, 2013 1:51:49 GMT
I don't really understand the measurements of arrows/bolts, so thanks for the recommended numbers. I'm guessing 16-18 inch carbon arrows sounds alright to me, now I just have to find a brand that sells cheap quality arrows. When I shoot them, I prefer accuracy over speed, so the weight of the arrow doesn't really matter to me...
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Post by ineffableone on Nov 19, 2013 3:58:57 GMT
Added this review to the Unofficial Archery index thread
Nice to see a crossbow get reviewed. Hope you have lots of fun with it.
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Post by THE_SUPERWEIRDO on Nov 20, 2013 4:16:57 GMT
Wow, thanks! And yeah, I guess not a lot of people consider a crossbow a part of archery or something... That or the really well built brands that are higher quality than this Man Kung is expensive. :?
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Post by Onimusha on Nov 20, 2013 4:34:19 GMT
In some circles, crossbows are seen as "cheating weapons". Of course, there are those who consider compound bows to be blasphemous. Whichever camp you fall into, you can't deny that the crossbow is a part of the archery tradition. I say whatever gets you out shooting is fine with me.
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Post by ineffableone on Nov 23, 2013 19:45:16 GMT
Well crossbows have limbs, a string, and shoot arrows (blots) so yep I would consider it part of archery.
So what would those who think crossbows and compounds as cheating think of compound crossbows? :lol:
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Post by Onimusha on Nov 24, 2013 4:38:52 GMT
Hmmm. Good question. There's probably a split among crossbow shooters on that subject. It's all splitting hairs. I don't realy get into those debates.
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Post by THE_SUPERWEIRDO on Nov 25, 2013 3:12:53 GMT
Crossbow or longbow, I like both of them I still prefer my long bow, being able to shoot faster and somewhat more consistently, but there's something about shooting a crossbow that makes it a different kind of fun Plus, I'm currently using my crossbow more than my longbow due to cold weather and the fear of a wooden bow snapping under these conditions :?
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Post by Onimusha on Nov 25, 2013 3:35:45 GMT
The bow will be ok.
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Post by Timberwolf on Nov 26, 2013 20:51:47 GMT
That looks like a FUN toy! Thanks for reviewing it.
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Post by jonessteave on Jan 2, 2024 20:56:26 GMT
That's a good tip about the rope cocker,it makes the job 50% easier, but I personally find them awkward and slow. I used to just mark the string either side of the rail to make sure I cocked the bow evenly, worked fine. If your after extreme durability, try "footing" your carbon arrows with a small length of aluminium low-cost high-quality crossbows, it is surprising how much stronger that will make them. Also, if you plan on using the broadheads, perhaps try feather fletching. Seemed to work better for me at least. I would appreciate hearing from everyone who has a crossbow. What kind they have? And if they would recommend that model or not and why? I'm looking hard and carefully considering my options. For the price of a decent crossbow a fella could get a new rifle.
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